The Hand of Mercy

The Twenty-third Day of December A-1

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Is 9: 5; Ps 72 (71): 17 A child shall be born for us, and he will be called God, the Almighty; every tribe of the earth shall be blest in him.

Collect Almighty ever‑living God, as we see how the Nativity of your Son according to the flesh draws near, we pray that to us, your unworthy servants, mercy may flow from your Word, who chose to become flesh of the Virgin Mary and establish among us his dwelling, Jesus Christ our Lord. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

(December 23) St. John of Kanty (1390?-1473) John was a country lad who made good in the big city and the big university of Kraków, Poland. After brilliant studies he was ordained a priest and became a professor of theology. The inevitable opposition which saints encounter led to his being ousted by rivals and sent to be a parish priest at Olkusz. An extremely humble man, he did his best, but his best was not to the liking of his parishioners. Besides, he was afraid of the responsibilities of his position. But in the end he won his people’s hearts. After some time he returned to Kraków and taught Scripture for the remainder of his life. He was a serious man, and humble, but known to all the poor of Kraków for his kindness. His goods and his money were always at their disposal, and time and again they took advantage of him. He kept only the money and clothes absolutely needed to support himself. He slept little, and then on the floor, ate sparingly, and took no meat. He made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, hoping to be martyred by the Turks. He made four pilgrimages to Rome, carrying his luggage on his back. When he was warned to look after his health, he was quick to point out that, for all their austerity, the fathers of the desert lived remarkably long lives. John of Kanty is a typical saint: He was kind, humble and generous, he suffered opposition and led an austere, penitential life. Most Christians in an affluent society can understand all the ingredients except the last: Anything more than mild self-discipline seems reserved for athletes and ballet dancers. Christmas is a good time at least to reject self-indulgence.

Scripture today: Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24; Psalm 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14; Luke 1:57-66

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, "No. He will be called John." But they answered her, "There is no one among your relatives who has this name." So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name," and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbours, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, "What, then, will this child be?" For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. (Luke 1:57-66)

The Hand of Mercy A fire rages across part of the outback countryside and leaves smoke and ruin in its wake. People flee with barely the clothes on their backs, and precious family heirlooms are lost forever, among them the family albums. The family albums! Ordinary photos that mean nothing to the general public can have an immense significance to the families concerned. Fading photos of great-grandparents, the old family letters fastened in the album with the ancient and yellowing photos, photos of the grown-up children when they were babes in arms — all now gone. Perhaps someone had spent numerous hours over many years putting the photos together and now there is nothing. What do they mean for those involved? The photo of that infant who was the grandparent of the present father of several children is not only a precious picture of a beloved ancestor, but is symbolic of the numerous blessings that have flowed through the generations. As the family leafs through the album, it thinks of the good things that have come to pass from those very ordinary beginnings. The great-grandfather who lived what is considered to be a fairly ordinary life, in the event proved to be the source of so many blessings, principally the blessing of life to others to come. The photo, viewed by the family, reveals that his ordinary life and the humdrum events that made it up was, in germ, far richer and greater than it seemed at the time. The past is recalled with its flourishing outcome — the present — in mind. The past is thus perceived as having been richer far than was realized then. The family photo-album shows that present blessings can be much greater than what appears, and their greatness can become manifest in time. More deeply still, the past as viewed from vantage of the present can show that the hand of God, giving us good things now, is preparing to give even better things to come. The hand of God in ordinary events is a hand bringing future blessings and mercy to man. The spoiler is sin. Still, the hand of God is greater far.

In our Gospel today (Luke 1:57‑66), a seemingly ordinary event, the birth of the child of Elizabeth and Zechariah, is perceived by people as an act of God’s mercy. God had been good to the couple and had taken away their profound disappointment. Their neighbours and relatives rejoiced. “When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her.” As with any birth it was cause for rejoicing now, and it looked forward to good things to come. God’s present gift was a harbinger of gifts in the future. But this time, the joy of heaven erupts on the visible scene with signs of the mercies to come. Strangely, the mother of the child announces that the name of the child is to be John (in Hebrew, Yochanan meaning “The Lord is gracious”). How did the mother come by this name? The father is called and asked how he wanted the child called, and he wrote, John (Yochanan). This was a wonder, and indicates to us that, just as to the father, so to the mother there had been a heavenly communication of the name of the child. But then the father suddenly regains speech and praises God. God is intervening to portend in the mercy of the present, the mercies to come. The special joy and richness of the present will not be left to the future to be understood. To a point, it is being revealed now. It is as if God cannot restrain his joy at the redemption which he has made to appear on the horizon. It is not being left to the future to appreciate. God is saying to the small circle around the tiny babe, Look! My hand is with him! I shall take him with me to something glorious. God would soon do more than this at the birth of the Messiah. The angels would appear rejoicing, the Magi would come to worship, and Simeon and Anna would prophesy. The mercy of the present was being revealed as pregnant with mercies for the future. And so we read that “fear came upon all their neighbours, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him” (Luke 1:57‑66).

Just as the hand of the Lord was with John in bringing about the good things God had planned, so the hand of the Lord is with each one of us. God’s providence in our regard is very, very particular. The Lord of the universe is tracing our path with his finger ahead of us, and his kindly hand behind us. Let us look on the mercies of the past as signals of mercies now and in the future. Sin is the enemy of God’s kindly plan — the sin within us and the sin around us — but God’s powerful mercy is greater, far the greater. Let us entrust ourselves to the hand of God, then! He loves us.

(E.J.Tyler)

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